JP6994026B2 - Equipment and systems for forming creases in thin film materials - Google Patents

Description

The present application relates to devices and systems for forming at least one additional crease in a long body of flat tubular shrinkable thin film material. The application also includes a container sleeve mounting system for mounting sleeves on multiple containers, including a device and system for forming at least one additional crease in a long body of flat tubular shrinkable thin film material. Regarding.

A container sleeve mounting system for mounting sleeves in multiple containers by placing each sleeve made from a long body of flat tubular shrinkable thin film material in a container is disclosed, for example, in International Publication No. 201031160A. ing. Known vessel sleeve mounting systems provide sleeves (labels) by feeding a continuous strip of flat tubular thin film material wound around a thin film feed reel toward a spreading element (sometimes referred to as a mandrel). Is placed around containers such as food containers, bottles, bowls, holders, etc. in a fast and reliable manner, and the thin film drive mechanism transports the thin film material along the outer surface of the spreading element to deliver the thin film material. The purpose is to open, cut the thin film material to form a sleeve, and eject the sleeve from the expansion element towards a container that passes through the expansion element while being transported over the conveyor. The sleeve is mounted around the container, and the container with the sleeve is transported to the oven to heat shrink the sleeve around the container.

As mentioned above, the tubular thin film material is supplied in a flat shape and is opened by guiding the flat thin film material along the spreading element. Factories that manufacture long pieces of flat thin film material used in container sleeve mounting systems usually have two folds (referred to herein as "factory folds"). An example of a long body of flat tubular thin film material commonly manufactured in the factory (slightly open for illustration purposes only) is shown in FIG. This figure shows a cross section of a long body 1 of a flat tubular thin film material in which two folds 2, 2'are formed in advance. When this oblong body 1 of the thin film material is opened by the expanding element, the thin film material takes the form of a substantially circular or substantially elliptical cross section, whereby the thin film material has a similar circular or elliptical cross section. Especially suitable for being fired at a container and placed in this container.

However, if the container has a different shape, for example a powder detergent container, for example, the cross section is substantially rectangular, the size of the cross section of the tubular thin film material with two folds can be arranged around the container. Must be excessive.

It is known that when the thin film material is ejected from the spreading element, it forms additional creases in the thin film material so that the cross section of the thin film material can be squared. As a result, it can be said that a tubular thin film material suitable for being arranged around a container having a substantially square cross section is obtained. However, when the shape of the container is substantially rectangular, for example, a powder detergent container, the shape of the thin film material does not correspond to the shape of the container, so it is still difficult to properly mount the thin film material (sleeve) around the container. Sometimes. A further advantage of the additional folds is the increased alignment accuracy of the thin film material mounted in the container.

A device comprising a folding guide (20) capable of expanding a thin film material that is moved along different planes is disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 4530772. For this purpose, the folding guide has an upstream guide (20a) and a downstream guide (20b) along which a long body of tubular thin film material can be guided. The device also includes two sets of rollers, the downstream rollers (42a) being arranged to provide additional folds to the thin film material. At each end where the downstream guide and the upstream guide abut, the cross section of each guide is circular.

The downstream guide and the upstream guide are rotatable with respect to each other along a virtual longitudinal axis. This allows the position of additional creases to be set by proper rotation of the downstream guide relative to the upstream guide. Disadvantages of known devices are that the thin film material moving along each guide is first opened from a flat state to an open state and then flattened again, and the perimeter of each guide. Changes in the direction of movement of the thin film material often result in wrinkles or similar artifacts. Another cause of such wrinkles and similar artifacts is that the distance traveled by the thin film material, i.e., the distance each portion along the perimeter of the sleeve travels along the outer surface of each guide, varies over the perimeter of the guide. There is a possibility. Known equipment also creates tension in thin film materials that can cause processing problems downstream of the equipment. In addition, known equipment is relatively complex and prone to wear.

International Publication No. 2011031160A Pamphlet Japanese Patent No. 4530772

It is an object of the present invention to form at least one additional crease in a long body of flat tubular shrinkable thin film material such that at least one of the above drawbacks has been removed or at least reduced. Is to provide equipment and systems for this purpose.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and system for forming one or more creases at one or more arbitrary positions in a long body of a flat tubular shrinkable thin film material.

A further object of the present invention is a flat tubular shrinkable thin film with at least one additional fold to form a sleeve that is a rectangular sleeve of any shape for mounting the sleeve on a container with the corresponding cross-sectional shape. It is to provide a device and a system for forming into a long body of.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a container sleeve mounting system that includes an improved device and / or system for forming additional creases in a long body of flat tubular shrinkable thin film material.

According to the first aspect, at least one object is to at least a long body of flat tubular shrinkable thin film material in a container sleeve mounting system for mounting the tubular shrinkable thin film material around the container. Achieved in a device for forming one additional crease, the device comprising a guide element, which has front and back sides and is a flat cylinder that moves axially along the guide element. The length of the shrinkable thin film material is configured to guide along this guide element, which is further an upstream guide element portion formed by a first flat plate extending in a first plane. And the downstream guide element portion formed by the second flat plate extending in the second plane rotating with respect to the first plane, and connected to or upstream of the upstream guide element portion and the downstream guide element portion. It is formed integrally with the guide element portion and the downstream guide element portion, and is formed so as to smoothly guide a flat tubular shrinkable thin film material that moves on the first flat plate toward the second flat plate. At least located on either side of the substantially wedge-shaped intermediate guide element portion and the downstream guide element portion and configured to press form at least one additional fold into the tubular shrinkable thin film material. Includes a pair of pressing rollers.

The elongate can maintain the flatness of the elongate itself during the creation of additional folds and / or the removal of existing folds.

In an exemplary embodiment, the side edges of the upstream guide element portion are configured to guide the original folds of the flat tubular shrinkable thin film material along this side edge and the side edges of the downstream guide element portion. Is configured to form additional creases in a flat tubular shrinkable thin film material, the additional creases are located differently from the original creases, and one or more pressing rollers. It is configured to press on both sides of the flat tubular shrinkable thin film material at the position of the additional folds.

In an exemplary embodiment, at least one side edge of the downstream guide element portion accepts a pressing roller for pressing a strip of tubular shrinkable thin film material and has at least one additional fold tubular. It has an opening arranged to provide a shrinkable thin film material.

In an exemplary embodiment, the perimeter of the upstream guide element portion is essentially the same as the perimeter of the intermediate guide element portion, and / or the perimeter of the intermediate guide element portion is the perimeter of the downstream guide element portion. It's basically the same.

In an exemplary embodiment, the perimeter in cross section is constant over the overall length of the guide element.

In an exemplary embodiment, the guide element is such that the length of the travel path of a long body of flat tubular shrinkable thin film material that moves downstream on the outer surface of the guide element is along the perimeter of the guide element. It is molded to be equal in all positions.

In an exemplary embodiment, the cross section of the upstream guide element portion and the downstream guide element portion is rectangular, and / or the cross section of the upstream guide element portion is essentially the same as the cross section of the downstream guide element portion.

In an exemplary embodiment, the opposing edges of the downstream guide element portion have at least one opening arranged to accommodate each pair of pressing rollers, the pressing rollers being the length of the tubular shrinkable thin film material. It is configured to press form multiple additional creases on either side of the scale.

In an exemplary embodiment, the device comprises a pair of pressing rollers arranged to at least partially remove one or more existing folds already present in the supplied thin film material. The pressing roller for removing the existing crease can be combined with the pressing roller for placing additional creases on the thin film material.

In an exemplary embodiment, the outer surface of the upstream guide element portion is essentially coplanar with the outer surface of the intermediate guide element portion, and / or the outer surface of the intermediate guide element portion is essentially equal to the outer surface of the downstream guide element portion. Are on the same plane.

In an exemplary embodiment, the device includes positioning rollers located on the downstream guide element portion and / or the intermediate guide element portion. The positioning rollers may be configured to work with the associated positioning rollers attached to the frame.

In an exemplary embodiment, the apparatus is configured to receive a strip of thin film material from a downstream guide element portion, reorient the strip, and eject the strip in the altered orientation. Includes material orientation unit.

In an exemplary embodiment, the strip of flat tubular thin film material is a continuous web of tubular shrinkable thin film material that is cut into individual sleeves, or pre-cut made of tubular shrinkable thin film material. It is an individual sleeve that has been made.

In an exemplary embodiment, the intermediate guide element portion is sized to fit a tubular shrinkable thin film material of a given width.

In an exemplary embodiment, the intermediate guide element portion has a cross-sectional shape of a long body of tubular shrinkable thin film material that moves along the guide element portion from the first shape of the upstream guide element portion to the downstream guide element portion. It is molded so that it can be smoothly transformed into the second shape of.

In an exemplary embodiment, the downstream guide element portion is essentially aligned coaxial with the upstream guide element portion.

In an exemplary embodiment, the upstream guide element portion and the downstream guide element have the same cross-sectional shape and dimensions.

In an exemplary embodiment, the downstream guide element portion is arranged with respect to the upstream guide element portion in a direction rotated along a virtual axis of axial symmetry.

In an exemplary embodiment, the plane of the downstream guide element portion extends at an angle (α) with respect to the plane of the upstream guide element portion, which angle ranges from 1 to 90 degrees, preferably 5 to 45 degrees. It is in the range.

According to another aspect, a system for forming at least one additional fold into a long body of flat tubular shrinkable thin film material is provided, the system being defined as the apparatus herein. Includes a drive unit that moves the elongated body axially along the guide element. The system may include a frame and a roller support attached to the frame, the orientation of the roller support being configured to be set according to the orientation of the downstream guide element portion.

In an exemplary embodiment, the guide element is detachably attached to the frame.

According to another aspect, a container sleeve mounting system for placing a sleeve of a tubular shrinkable thin film material around a container carried on a conveyor is provided. The container sleeve mounting system comprises a device for forming at least one additional crease in a strip of flat tubular shrinkable thin film material according to any one of the preceding claims, and a flat tubular shape. To receive a thin film supply for supplying the shrinkable thin film material to the device and a flat tubular shrinkable thin film material with at least one additional crease, and to expand the tubular shrinkable thin film material. The expansion unit and the flat tubular shrinkable thin film material are moved along the expansion unit, and the flat tubular shrinkable thin film material is discharged toward one or more containers on the conveyor. Includes a discharge unit for.

In an exemplary embodiment, the container sleeve mounting system comprises a cutting unit for cutting a strip of thin film material into a sleeve of a given length.

Further features of the present disclosure will be apparent in the attached description of various exemplary embodiments. Examples of embodiments are shown in the accompanying drawings, where similar reference numbers refer to similar elements throughout. The drawings are as follows.

It is a cross section of a long body 1 of a flat tubular thin film material in which two folds 2 and 2'are formed in advance. Two original (factory) folds and two additional folds are each made into a flat shape and of a long body of flat tubular thin film material after being opened by the expanding element of the vessel sleeve mounting system. It is a sectional view. Two original (factory) folds and two additional folds are each made into a flat shape and of a long body of flat tubular thin film material after being opened by the expanding element of the vessel sleeve mounting system. It is a sectional view. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a container sleeve mounting system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. It is a schematic perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of a guide element of a crease forming apparatus in which a long body of a flat tubular thin film material is guided along. FIG. 5 is a schematic view of FIG. 5 not including a long body of a flat tubular thin film material. It is sectional drawing which shows the shape of each guide element part of the guide element seen at different axial heights along a crease forming apparatus. It is sectional drawing which shows the shape of each guide element part of the guide element seen at different axial heights along a crease forming apparatus. It is sectional drawing which shows the shape of each guide element part of the guide element seen at different axial heights along a crease forming apparatus. It is sectional drawing which shows the shape of each guide element part of the guide element seen at different axial heights along a crease forming apparatus. It is some figure of an exemplary embodiment of a crease forming system including a crease forming apparatus. It is some figure of an exemplary embodiment of a crease forming system including a crease forming apparatus. It is some figure of an exemplary embodiment of a crease forming system including a crease forming apparatus. It is some figure of an exemplary embodiment of a crease forming system including a crease forming apparatus. It is some figure of an exemplary embodiment of a crease forming system including a crease forming apparatus. It is some figure of an exemplary embodiment of a crease forming system including a crease forming apparatus.

Unless otherwise defined, all technical terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which the invention belongs. Still, specific elements are defined below for clarity and easy reference. In addition, as used herein and in the appended claims, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" shall include multiple referents unless explicitly stated otherwise in the context. Please note. Further note that the claims may be made to exclude any element. Therefore, this statement is intended to serve as an antecedent for the use of exclusive terms such as "exclusively", "just", etc. in connection with the enumeration of claim elements or the use of "negative" restrictions. ing.

As will be apparent to those of skill in the art to understand the present disclosure, each of the individual exemplary embodiments described and illustrated herein will not deviate from the scope of the invention and will include several other examples. It has individual components and features that may be easily separated from any feature of the embodiment or easily combined with any feature thereof. The methods described can be performed in the order of the events described or in any other order that is logically possible.

FIG. 4 schematically illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a container sleeve mounting system 5 for mounting (labeling) a sleeve on a container. The sleeve mounting system 5 arranges a row of one or more parallel containers 27, such as a powder detergent container having a substantially rectangular cross section, in a direction 17 along the sleeve mounting position (P) where the sleeve is arranged around the container. Includes a conveyor 6 for transport (only partially shown). An exemplary embodiment of the conveyor may include an endless conveyor belt 7 conveyed in direction 17 by the appropriate wheels 8. However, other types of conveyors can be used as well. In fact, the conveyor 6 may be any type of conveyor capable of transporting a group of containers along the sleeve mounting position.

In the exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 4, the container 27 is located on top of the belt 7. The conveyor 6 may be configured to convey the container 27 discontinuously (ie, intermittently). However, in a preferred embodiment, the conveyor is configured to convey the container continuously (ie, non-intermittently). In these exemplary embodiments, the operation of arranging the sleeve around the container is essentially immediate without interrupting the transfer of the container.

FIG. 4 also shows a fixed sleeve mounting device 10 disposed above the sleeve mounting position (P) and configured to place a sleeve of thin film material around the container conveyed by the conveyor 6. .. The sleeve is formed by cutting a continuous length of tubular thin film material, such as a flat tubular body of appropriate length or a thin film material configured as a package. In this application, the "sleeve" may be used to represent individual thin film pieces placed around the product, but form a flat or open cylinder before being cut. It may also refer to a thin film or a long body.

Preferably, the thin film material is of a type that shrinks when exposed to certain physical phenomena, such as when exposed to heat. As will be described later, a heat-shrinkable thin film can be mounted around the container and mounted on the container by heat-shrinking the thin film.

FIG. 4 further shows a sleeve supply unit 11 for supplying a continuous long body of a tubular flat thin film material 13 to the sleeve mounting device 10. The sleeve supply section 11 includes a thin film stock section 14 in which one or more supply reels 12 are arranged. A continuous long body of a tubular flat thin film material 13 is wound around each of the supply reels 12. A strip of thin film material can be transported towards the sleeve mounting device 10 (direction 16) by any suitable means, such as some set of wheels or rollers (not specifically shown). One selected thin film material from the feed reel 12 is conveyed towards the thin film buffer 15 (S1). The thin film buffer is configured to buffer the supplied thin film material (S2) and allow fluctuations in the operating speed of the supply without the need to interrupt the sleeve mounting process. In an exemplary embodiment, the thin film stock section 14 connects a new long body of thin film material from another roll to the end of the long body of thin film material on the old reel, and the thin film material sleeve mounting device 10. Includes a splicer (not shown) configured to allow continuous supply to. The splicer and the thin film buffer 15 can supply the thin film material to the sleeve mounting device 10 essentially continuously (ie, uninterrupted).

The supplied thin film material 13 having a flat tubular shape creates (S3) one or more additional creases in the thin film material 13 (ie, adds to the factory creases already present in the supplied thin film material). It is moved (direction 18) along the crease forming device 22 (simply shown schematically in FIG. 4). Next, the flat tubular thin film material 13 leaving the crease forming device 22 reaches the expanding element 19 (also referred to herein as a "mandrel") of the sleeve mounting device 10. In the exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 4, the spreading element 19 is configured to first spread the flat thin film material to the "open" position (S4) and then cut the thin film material to a specific length. This causes the thin film material to form a continuous sleeve. In another exemplary embodiment, the flat thin film material is first cut to a particular length to provide a sleeve and then advanced along the expansion element to open the sleeve. In either case, the sleeve is sized to be placed around the container 27 that passes under the expansion element 19. Fixing the sleeve to the container may include a step of gluing or preferably heat shrinkage.

As mentioned above, the sleeve mounting device 10 includes an expansion element 19 (which may be composed of a plurality of parts). The spreading element 19 is suspended from the fixed frame 20 and is configured to spread a thin film (initially having a flat tubular shape) into an open position. For this purpose, the spreading element 19 is provided with a spear or tip 21 shaped to open the thin film 13 delivered as a flat package of thin film material. For example, the spear portion 21 has a substantially flat cross section at its upstream end and a substantially circular cross section at its downstream end, allowing the thin film material to have a desired tubular package or sleeve shape.

The sleeve mounting device 10 further includes a cutting unit 25 for cutting the sleeve from the opened thin film material 13 (S5). The thin film material can be guided through a cutting means unit that cuts the thin film material at regular intervals to obtain individual sleeve-shaped thin film packages or sleeves 26 of appropriate length. More specifically, the tubular thin film material may be advanced on the expanding element and then stopped at a predetermined position, whereby the cutting device 25 cuts the thin film material and has the required cutting length. The sleeve 26 can be realized.

The sleeve mounting device 10 is also attached, for example, to the distal end 23 of the expansion element 19 for firing (S6) a sleeve 26 cut from a long body of thin film material towards a container passing through the sleeve mounting. Includes a sleeve discharge unit 28 including a pair of opposed inner guide wheels and a pair of outer drive wheels 24 attached to the frame 20 (not shown, but may be driven by a suitable electric motor). If the timing of discharge is accurate and the container is approximately aligned with the expansion element 19, the sleeve can be placed exactly around the container.

The sleeve 26 is formed by the cutting unit 25, discharged towards the container 27 by the discharge unit 28 (S6), and placed around the container by sliding the sleeve downward along the top 14 of the container 27. And the combination of the sleeve 26 and the container 27 is further conveyed in the direction 17 by the conveyor 6 (S7). Conveyor 6 transports the sleeve-mounted container further downstream to the shrinking unit 29 in order to attach the sleeve around the container by shrinking the sleeve. For example, the shrinking unit 29 may be a heated steam oven capable of heat shrinking (S8) the sleeve 26 so that the sleeve 26 can be permanently attached to the container 27 to provide the labeled container 9. .. In the next step, a drying step can be applied. FIG. 4 also shows the movement of the thin film material on the crease forming apparatus 22, the movement of the thin film material on the spreading element 19, the cutting of the thin film material by the cutting unit 25, and the discharge of the cut thin film material by the discharge unit 28. It shows a controller 22 configured to control at least one of transport by a conveyor 6 and shrinking operation by a shrinking unit 29.

2 and 3 show an example of a long body 4 of a flat tubular thin film material, in which two preformed factory folds 2, 2'(ie, a container). The creases present in the thin film material supplied to the sleeve mounting system) and two additional folds 3, 3'are made using the exemplary embodiment of the crease forming apparatus 22. FIG. 2 shows a situation immediately after the thin film material exits the downstream guide element portion and before the thin film material reaches the expansion element 19 of the container sleeve mounting system 5. FIG. 3 shows the situation when the thin film material is opened immediately after the thin film material (while being cut into individual sleeves) exits the expansion element 19 and is discharged towards the container. .. These figures are thin film materials particularly suitable for placement around a substantially rectangular container by forming two additional folds 3, 3'at different positions from the original folds 2, 2'. It clearly shows that it is possible to create a sleeve with a substantially rectangular shape.

With reference to FIGS. 5-10, an example of the crease forming apparatus 22 used in the container sleeve mounting system 5 of FIG. 4 is described. The crease forming apparatus 22 includes a guide element 40 configured to guide the moving thin film material along its outer surface, and the movement of the thin film material is driven by a drive unit (not shown). The crease forming apparatus 22 press-forms one or more additional folds into the thin film material (and / or press-forms the one or more additional folds, as described below. Further includes at least a pair of pressing rollers configured to (remove creases).

The guide element 40 has a front side and a back side, and is configured to guide a long body (S, FIG. 5) of a flat tubular shrinkable thin film material in the supply direction 50 along the guide element 40. The guide element 40 is formed by an upstream guide element portion 41 formed by a first flat plate extending in a first plane (FIG. 7) and a second flat plate extending in a second plane (FIG. 10). With the downstream guide element portion 42 provided, the second plane rotates with respect to the first plane (relative to the virtual longitudinal central axis 55). In this configuration, the downstream guide element portion may be basically axially aligned with the upstream guide element portion. More specifically, the orientation of the downstream guide element portion is a orientation rotated about a virtual longitudinal central axis 55 that can be the center of both the upper guide element portion and the lower guide element portion. It is also good, and therefore constitutes the axis of symmetry of both guide element portions. Further, the angle (α) (FIG. 10) between the first plane and the second plane of each of the upstream guide element portion 41 and the downstream guide element portion 42 is, for example, in the range of 1 to 90 degrees, preferably 5 to 45. It may vary within the range of degrees. The guide element 40 further includes an intermediate guide element portion 43 arranged between the upstream guide element portion 41 and the downstream guide element portion 42. The intermediate guide element portion 43 may be a separate portion in which one end is connected to the upstream guide element portion 41 and the opposite end is connected to the downstream guide element portion 42.

In another exemplary embodiment, the intermediate guide element portion is integrally formed between the upstream guide element portion 41 and the downstream guide element portion 42. The intermediate guide element portion 43 in the exemplary embodiment shown in FIGS. 5 to 10 has a substantially wedge shape. More specifically, in the particular embodiments shown in these figures, the intermediate guide element portion 43 is a tetrahedral or solid triangular wedge. Other shapes are possible as well. In either case, the wedge must be formed so that it can smoothly guide the flat tubular shrinkable thin film material moving over the upstream guide element portion 41 towards the downstream guide element portion 42.

The guide elements include a first set of positioning rollers 46 provided in the lateral groove 45 on the outer surface of the intermediate guide element portion 43 and a second set of positioning rollers 47 provided on the outer surface of the downstream guide element portion 42. A positioning unit (only a part of which is shown) may be provided. The positioning unit is a drive or non-drive of two sets arranged to press the first set of positioning rollers and the second set of positioning rollers together with a thin film placed between the positioning rollers and another positioning roller. Also includes another positioning wheel (not shown), which allows another positioning roller to engage the tubular thin film material. In an embodiment in which another positioning roller is driven by a drive unit (not shown), the rollers bring the thin film material upstream along the intermediate guide element portion 43 and the downstream guide element portion 42 in the direction of the sleeve mounting device 10. It can be useful for moving from the guide element portion 41 in the axial direction 50.

At least one of the side edges 62, 63 of the downstream guide element portion 42 (both the side edges 62, 63 in the embodiments shown in FIGS. 5 to 10) presses against an elongated body of tubular shrinkable thin film material. Openings 48 and 49 (eg, rollers 90, 91 of the crease forming system 60 of FIG. 12) arranged to accept pressing rollers to provide at least one additional fold to the tubular shrinkable thin film material. And has the pressing rollers 107, 108) of FIG. More specifically, in the guide element, the first pair of pressing rollers are arranged in the left opening 48 and the second pair of pressing rollers are arranged in the right opening 49. Either the first pair of pressing rollers or the second pair of pressing rollers faces the back side of the downstream guide element portion 42 and the front side of the downstream guide element portion 42. Includes a second roller arranged in place. The distance between the first and second rollers of each pair of pressing rollers is (semi) permanently localized by pressing the thin film material at the location of the relevant side edges of the downstream guide element portion 43. Folds are forcibly formed in the flat tubular thin film material (S) and / or existing in the flat tubular thin film material (if such preformed thin films are actually present). The creases are small enough to be forcibly removed at the inner position in the lateral direction. The pressing roller may be a passive roller (eg, a passive wheel), i.e., a non-driven roller, but exemplary embodiments with driven rollers are also possible.

The position of the additional fold is determined by the orientation of the first plane (ie, the orientation of the upstream guide element portion 41) with respect to the second plane (ie, the orientation of the downstream guide element portion 42). In FIG. 10, the orientation of the second plane (downstream guide element portion 42) with respect to the orientation of the first plane (upstream guide element portion 41 shown by the dotted line) is shown. The positions of the folds 3, 3'and the cross-sectional shape of the elongated body 4 of the thin film material downstream of the guide element 40 with respect to it depend on the angle (α) between the first and second planes. .. When the angle is 90 degrees, the tubular elongated body 4 has a substantially square shape. If the angle is smaller (or larger), the shape will be rectangular. By selecting a guide element having an appropriate angle (α) from a large number of preformed guide elements having guide element portions at different angles, it is possible to provide an appropriate shape of the elongated body 4 of the thin film material. That is, it is possible to provide a shape suitable for the shape of the container to which the sleeve is mounted.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the guide element is a long body of tubular thin film material from the upstream guide element portion 41 towards the downstream guide element portion 42, with finer wrinkles, wrinkles, and unwanted creases. It is molded so that it can move smoothly without encountering any substantial obstacles that may cause such things as. For this purpose, the perimeter 51 of the upstream guide element portion 41 (see FIG. 6, the cross section, that is, the perimeter in a plane perpendicular to the virtual longitudinal central axis 55) is the perimeter 53 of the downstream guide element portion 42 and It is basically the same as the circumference 52 of the intermediate guide element portion 43. The peripheral length in the cross section may be constant over the entire length of the guide element, whereby the long body of the thin film material can be smoothly conveyed.

Alternatively or additionally, the guide element is such that the length of the travel path of a long body of flat tubular shrinkable thin film material that moves downstream on the outer surface of the guide element is along the circumference of the guide element. It is molded so that it is equal in all positions. Preferably, the guide element is shaped so that the perimeter is kept constant over the height of the guide element, while the lengths of the travel paths over the entire circumference are equal. In this way, a particularly smooth movement motion can be achieved, which means that the risk of failure while moving along the guide element is further reduced.

The guide element is such that the outer surface of the upstream guide element portion is essentially coplanar with the outer surface of the intermediate guide element portion and / or the outer surface of the intermediate guide element portion is essentially equal to the outer surface of the downstream guide element portion. It may be further formed so as to be coplanar. By making the guide element portions flush with each other, the transition portion between the upper guide element portion and the intermediate guide element portion and the transition portion between the intermediate guide element portion and the downstream guide element portion are basically formed. There are no obstacles.

11-16 are various perspective views of an exemplary embodiment of the crease forming system 60 including the crease forming device 22 of the container sleeve mounting system 5 of FIG. The crease forming device 22 includes a fixed frame 61 connected to or separated from the fixed frame 20 of the sleeve mounting device 10. A set of drive rollers 104, 105 arranged to (indirectly) engage the positioning rollers 46, 47 and a thin film material conveyed along the rollers are pressed against the frame 61 for new folding. A roller support 65 configured to support a set of pressing rollers 90, 91, 107, 108 configured to form eyes and / or remove existing creases is attached. The roller support portion 65 is rotatably attached to the frame 61, whereby the orientation of the roller support portion 65 with respect to the frame 61 can be changed. The angle between the roller support portion 65 and the frame 61 can be determined from the scale 86 provided on the outer peripheral edge of the roller support portion 65. The roller support portion 65 can be fixed at an appropriate angle by the operation of the fixing means 87 (FIG. 12) provided on the roller support portion 65.

The roller support portion 65 includes a yoke including a first yoke member 80 and a second yoke member 82 rotatably attached to the first yoke member 80 via a hinge element 83. The first yoke member 80 is configured to support the pressing rollers 107, 108 and the driving rollers 104, 105, while the second yoke member 82 supports the pressing rollers 90, 91. The drive rollers 104, 105 are further configured to support the guide element 40.

Therefore, the guide element can be detachably attached to the frame 61. This makes the guide element easily replaceable, so that the position of the fold in the tubular thin film material can be easily set by selecting an appropriate guide element and attaching the guide element to the frame 61.

The rollers may be laterally positioned at least one roller, eg, to adapt to different guide elements and / or to change the position where additional folds are formed and / or where existing folds are removed. Is supported on each axis 100-102, which allows for adaptation (allows movement in direction 120, see FIG. 15). The pressing rollers may be pressed against each other (that is, the front pressing rollers 107 and 108 are pressed in the directions of the back pressing rollers 90 and 91, respectively). The pressing operation can be achieved by a large number of actuators 110, 111. The illustrated configuration allows the pressing roller to form a crease to be pressed with a different pressing force than the pressing roller intended to remove the crease.

A thin film material orientation unit 69 is provided at the downstream end of the crease forming system 60. The thin film material alignment unit 69 includes two guide roller supports 70, 71 rotatably attached to the frame 61. Each of the guide roller supports 70, 71 can be rotated to an appropriate position. This angle depends on the shape of the guide element 40, and more specifically, the orientation of the upstream guide element portion 41 that receives the elongated body of the thin film material in which the crease is formed, and the orientation of the thin film material in which the crease is formed. It depends on the orientation of the downstream guide element portion 42 that receives the oblong body. The guide roller 73 of the guide roller support portion 71 is oriented so that the orientation corresponds to the orientation of the downstream guide element portion 42 by the rotation of the guide roller support portion 71. The guide roller 74 of the guide roller support portion 70 is oriented so that the orientation corresponds to the orientation of the upstream guide element portion 41 by the rotation of the guide roller support portion 70.

However, different orientations are also possible. The angle at which the guide roller supports 70, 71 extend with respect to the frame 61 can be derived from the scales 75, 76, respectively.

Although the present disclosure has been described using exemplary embodiments, various changes and modifications may be suggested to those of skill in the art. The present disclosure is intended to include such changes and amendments included in the appended claims.

Claims (9)

A device for forming at least one additional crease in a long piece of flat tubular shrinkable thin film material within a vessel sleeve mounting system for mounting a tubular shrinkable thin film material around a container. The device is a guide element having a front side and a back side, and guides the long body of the flat tubular shrinkable thin film material that moves in the axial direction along the guide element along the guide element. Including a guide element configured to do so, said guide element.
The upstream guide element portion formed by the first flat plate extending in the first plane,
A downstream guide element portion formed by a second flat plate extending in a second plane that rotates with respect to the first plane.
The upstream guide element portion and the downstream guide element portion are connected to each other, or the upstream guide element portion and the downstream guide element portion are integrally formed, and the first flat plate is turned into the second flat plate. Includes a substantially wedge-shaped intermediate guide element portion formed to smoothly guide the flat tubular shrinkable thin film material moving towards.
The device is located on either side of the downstream guide element portion and at least one pair of presses configured to press form at least one additional fold into the tubular shrinkable thin film material. Including rollers
The at least one side edge of the downstream guide element portion accepts the pressing roller for pressing the elongated body of the tubular shrinkable thin film material and makes the at least one additional fold into the cylinder. A device having an opening arranged to provide a shrinkable thin film material . The side edges of the upstream guide element portion are configured to guide the original folds of the flat tubular shrinkable thin film material along the side edges, and the side edges of the downstream guide element portion are flat. The tubular shrinkable thin film material is configured to form additional creases, the additional folds are located at a position different from the original crease position, and the pressing roller is one of the above. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the device is configured to press both sides of the flat tubular shrinkable thin film material at the positions of the additional folds. The device according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein the upstream guide element portion and the downstream guide element portion have a rectangular cross section . A device for forming at least one additional crease in a long piece of flat tubular shrinkable thin film material within a vessel sleeve mounting system for mounting a tubular shrinkable thin film material around a container. The device is a guide element having a front side and a back side, and guides the long body of the flat tubular shrinkable thin film material that moves in the axial direction along the guide element along the guide element. Including a guide element configured to do so, said guide element.
The upstream guide element portion formed by the first flat plate extending in the first plane,
A downstream guide element portion formed by a second flat plate extending in a second plane that rotates with respect to the first plane.
The upstream guide element portion and the downstream guide element portion are connected to each other, or the upstream guide element portion and the downstream guide element portion are integrally formed, and the first flat plate is turned into the second flat plate. Includes a substantially wedge-shaped intermediate guide element portion formed to smoothly guide the flat tubular shrinkable thin film material moving towards.
The device is located on either side of the downstream guide element portion and at least one pair of presses configured to press form at least one additional fold into the tubular shrinkable thin film material. Including rollers
The opposing edges of the downstream guide element portion each have at least one opening arranged to receive a pair of pressing rollers, wherein the pressing roller is of the elongated body of the tubular shrinkable thin film material. A device configured to press form multiple additional creases on either side edge. A device for forming at least one additional crease in a long piece of flat tubular shrinkable thin film material within a vessel sleeve mounting system for mounting a tubular shrinkable thin film material around a container. The device is a guide element having a front side and a back side, and guides the long body of the flat tubular shrinkable thin film material that moves in the axial direction along the guide element along the guide element. Including a guide element configured to do so, said guide element.
The upstream guide element portion formed by the first flat plate extending in the first plane,
A downstream guide element portion formed by a second flat plate extending in a second plane that rotates with respect to the first plane.
The upstream guide element portion and the downstream guide element portion are connected to each other, or the upstream guide element portion and the downstream guide element portion are integrally formed, and the first flat plate is turned into the second flat plate. Includes a substantially wedge-shaped intermediate guide element portion formed to smoothly guide the flat tubular shrinkable thin film material moving towards.
The device is located on either side of the downstream guide element portion and at least one pair of presses configured to press form at least one additional fold into the tubular shrinkable thin film material. Including rollers
A device comprising a pair of pressing rollers arranged such that the device is arranged to at least partially remove one or more existing folds already present in the thin film material supplied. The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the pressing roller for removing an existing fold is combined with the pressing roller for arranging additional folds on the thin film material. 13 . The device according to any one item. A system comprising a device for forming at least one additional fold into a long body of flat tubular shrinkable thin film material.
The device is a guide element having a front side and a back side so as to guide the elongated body of the flat tubular shrinkable thin film material axially moving along the guide element along the guide element. Including a guide element configured in, said guide element
The upstream guide element portion formed by the first flat plate extending in the first plane,
A downstream guide element portion formed by a second flat plate extending in a second plane that rotates with respect to the first plane.
The upstream guide element portion and the downstream guide element portion are connected to each other, or the upstream guide element portion and the downstream guide element portion are integrally formed, and the first flat plate is turned into the second flat plate. Includes a substantially wedge-shaped intermediate guide element portion formed to smoothly guide the flat tubular shrinkable thin film material moving towards.
The device is located on either side of the downstream guide element portion and at least one pair of presses configured to press form at least one additional fold into the tubular shrinkable thin film material. Including rollers
The system further comprises a drive unit that axially moves the elongated body along the guide element.
A system comprising a frame and a roller support attached to the frame so that the orientation of the roller support is set according to the orientation of the downstream guide element portion. 8. The system of claim 8 , wherein the guide element is detachably attached to the frame.

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